Just a question for current students,

I have many friends that are attending medical school in the US and others that are in the Caribbean. It seems that those in the Caribbean for some reason are much more stressed out / unhappy than those studying at home. As an accepted student thinking about attending I was curious if current students are happy? Do you have lives outside of school or do you feel as if you're stuck on an island and just counting the days till you can get out (this was the feeling I've got after speaking to some of my friends who are currently at other caribbean medical schools). What do studens at St. Matthews do for fun? Thanks for your help.....

I think a lot of this has to do with the island you are on. Grand Cayman is very developed and I have not heard of many students being unhappy with the island. I will let current students address what they do for entertainment.

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E. Goodbread
egoodbread@smucayman.com
St. Matthew's University
Visit www.stmatthews.edu, home of the official SMU forums.

It does have a lot to do with the island that you are on. However, no matter how nice the island is it will never be home, and there will always be constant reminders that you are not at home. That being said, everyone goes through this separation anxiety (for lack of a better term) and it helps to bring people closer together first semester. Don't worry, you'll make friends, and go through good times and bad times. Yet at the end of it all, you'll wonder "where did all the time go?" As for time outside of school....to be honest if you have too much time outside of school, you aren't studying enough.

I am not unhappy on the island. I am unhappy with the amount of financial aid. You can't enjoy the island and have a decent place to live on the funds available. If the funds were in CI not US dollar it would be somewhat better. Everything is as expensive as being in a tourist area of the states then add the conversion rate on top of it and you have an idea as to why I am unhappy.

For those going to Maine, it only gets better. Yes 4th semester is really stressful, but it is downhill from there (in terms of class material). 5th was a breeze, I don't believe anyone failed ICM (I could be wrong), but everyone had high averages going into the final.

Concerning separation anxiety...having your spouse with you on the island really helps. But in the end your friends and family will be missed. At SMU I have made some great friendships. It was a sad day when we had to leave the Maine campus, it was bitter-sweet. In the end, we will accomplish what we set out to do...become doctors. That is what you should set your eyes on.

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Juni

"Having Fun" and medical students dont go together in the same sentence. We try our best to balance our time but regardless of our time management skills we still find our stress levels to be high for whatever reason.

You will be fine if you keep the end in mind and work hard